Gado Gado for the Win.

I had been here far too long to not have had my favorite Indonesian meal, gado-gado. So even thought I currently have more phlegm than Phlegm Mountain in Phlegmville, Phlegmtonia (seriously, it’s a lot of phlegm) I got myself off my butt and adventured out today.

Run!

Sidebar: Before you freak out (I’m lookin’ at you Momma and Grandma) I am going to the doctor tomorrow. The sore throat seems to not be allergies to pollution anymore. It is a different sore throat than I’ve ever had. So it is doctor time. If only it was The Doctor. If David Tennant is at the doctors office tomorrow I am not coming back. Ever. Sorry.  Don’t worry though, he can travel through time and space so it’s all good.

Back to food. I decided to look up a little place I had heard about that had decent food at nice prices. Surprisingly it’s in a bit of a touristy area and still has reasonable prices. It had good reviews and it is in an area of Jogja I don’t really go to so I figured what the hey. This time, the first weeks, are for me to rediscover Jogja and get to know the city. I should go all about. Even touristy areas. And for food? I’ll go pretty much anywhere. So I packed up my stuff, got a taxi, and headed out. The taxi driver I had this afternoon was just such a gem. It was the first time since I’ve been back that I had a full blown conversation with someone without really thinking about it. I needed that. He was just so nice and so much fun. I even wished for a longer taxi ride. When we got to the street he didn’t know the exact restaurant but he was determined to find it for me. Eventually we found it. He didn’t have exact change and offered to get out to ask the restaurant if they had change because he wanted to give me correct change. I said, no bub… you keep that extra change. He earned that 5,000 rupiah. Just by being so concerned about getting it to me, really. Could he have been playin me for an extra bill? Maybe, but you shut your mouth I choose to believe in him, you jerk!

Give me food.

Anywaaaays, I did eventually make it to Warung Heru. Obviously a touristy place because the whole menu is in English. I’ve heard people get all huffy when they travel about how they *huff* would never *huff* eat in such a touristy place. So before you say anything, I’m just not that hoity. I will eat wherever the food is good and the people are kind. Touristy location or not. And the food was good and the people were incredibly kind so boom. My gado-gado was so tasty. Normally I like the peanut sauce a bit thicker but it was so tasty I didn’t care. It was a nice amount of spice and the hot lemonade I ordered after my meal was the perfect combo to battle the phlegm. For those of you who don’t know gado-gado is an Indonesian “salad.” I use the quotes because a lot of people have told me they don’t see it as a salad but that is how it is always described to me. So deal. It is a mix of boiled veggies (aka safe for my poor tummy to eat because they aren’t raw aka washed with unboiled water) with a peanut sauce that I dream about. Common elements are also egg, tofu, and/or shrimp chips. It made me so happy. The right size, the right amount of spice for today (I could go spicier but for a nice relaxing lunch it was perfect), and the right price. It was a good amount of food for 25,000 rupiah. That converts to $2.18 USD. The women who were working the joint were also incredibly sweet. The owner, Ibu Wahyu, sat down when I was done to talk to me for a while since I spoke Indonesian. I forgot a couple words but most of it came out well.  Made me very happy to chat with her. It might have been because my Indonesian was coming back quicker or because she told me I was pretty 5 times in our 20 minute convo. Must have been the Indonesian. Ya. That’s it. We talked about Indonesia, how long I would be here, her son who is in a popular band I guess, and Hawaii. One woman was wearing a straight up Aloha shirt and the warung is next to an Aloha Hotel. I meant to take a picture but I was in a peanut sauce daze. When it was time to go Ibu Wayhu asked if I wanted her to call me a taxi and I said no I wanted to walk around a bit. Probably because I was just feeling so darn happy. I really felt happy today. Not that I haven’t been happy since I landed in Indonesia but today something just clicked. Despite the throat issues I am feeling happy.

Bask in the glory that is gado-gado.

So I walked down the road and got distracted by an antique store. It was a beautiful, beautiful store. Filled with old wayang golek puppets, typewriters, masks, tea sets, fascinating dutch safes, beds, chairs, pipes, looking glasses, just everything. The prices were a bit more than I was willing to pay otherwise I might have walked out with a dutch book of Charles Dickens’ stories from the early 1900s. Why? Because it was beautiful. The sales girl was also really nice. Talked to me about what I was doing there, why, etc. etc. She was cute. Then I walked a bit more and finally grabbed a taxi because the sky started to get taken over by dark swirling clouds.

This taxi driver was also really nice. He talked to me a lot in the taxi as well. Mostly about how I was probably not going to make it to the Ramayana Ballet than evening because it looked like rain. I agreed. We were right. It started to sprinkle on the way home and there was thunder by the time I hit my room. It was nice to listen to the rain and I will be here a year. I can catch the Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan Temple another day. Plus I was feeling a bit run down even after this short trip. I ended up settling down in my room and doing a little work and watching some American TV with Indonesian subtitles.

A photo from yogyes.com showing the temple in the background and the ballet.

Watching TV here is interesting. Reading the subtitles and hearing the actual words is a trip. Let’s just say they are not always translated 100% correctly. After some reading and TV watching is when I realized that I might for real have a throat issue and should go to the doctor. I was pooped and the pain isn’t going away. So I decided to order some soup from a Chinese place down the street. This was not so successful. The soup smelled like vomit I’ve had in the past. Probably because I had had something similar before I got sick last time I got really sick. So I did not eat it. I did, however, end up spilling a bunch of it on my bathroom floor. That was sure fun. Potato crackers (love crackers made with potato flour) and water for my dinner. The interwebs says crackers are good for phlegm because it gets it out of your throat. I call bologna.

So… now that I have started and ended this post with phlegm, you’re welcome, I think it is time for me to hit the hay. I had no idea it was already 11:30. Time flies when you’re trying to hydrate.

Goodnight, my loves.